Color me excited. It's going to be a tough game, but it should be fun. And all in the glory that is TNTHD.

I can't wait for tonights game!!! Nuggets are back!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Looking to Rebound (from a disastrous finish to last season) and Run (up and down the court)

Last season the Nuggets had about everything go wrong that could between injuries, internal strife and inconsistent play on the court. Despite these distractions, the Nuggets still managed to win the Northwest division and Carmelo Anthony was able to take his game to another level.

1. They still can't shoot. JR Smith actually made a few, but it's a pipe dream to think that we'll get 40% from behind the arc from him.

2. That being said, Smith seems to have a nice little chemistry with Carmelo.

3. Good god Boykins is a major liability for this team. He drives me nuts and I don't think it's a coincidence that the Nuggets played poorly with him in the game.

4. Martin looks like he has a spring in his step that he didn't have last year, and Nene looks pretty good considering his knee was shredded 367 days ago. Good news, but I would still like to see them move one of them for someone that can shoot the freaking ball.

5. Does Karl plan on playing all twelve guys every night?? Damn near everyone got in the game; I assume he is anticipating the back to back tomorrow night, and still doesn't have his rotation worked out. Hopefully they can narrow it down. But I do like the depth!

1) JR Smith is this year's Kenyon Martin. Not from an attitude standpoint, but I can already forsee that love/hate relationship. One game good, one game bad, etc. Took some stupid shots tonight, but then made huge shots, the steal late, etc.

2) Nice rebounding.

3) He wasn't the first and won't be the last -- Melo getting tossed. That will happen more often than not this year. Not by Melo alone, but by a lot of people as they adjust to the refs. I mean, we've seen Melo get pissed and take off that headband before. Never has it been a problem. I'm not saying the rule is bad, in fact it's great for the game. But yeah. I thought JR was going to get tossed in the third.

4) Nene could actually be good. The Nuggets may not have screwed that one up.

5) Heartbreaker of an ending! Thought they were going to pull it off without Melo.

6) Liked what I saw from Diawara. Minus the lack of offense, that is.

7) The offense will be interesting to follow. Obviously there is the shooting woes, but also the offense only really works when the other team misses. We need rebounds to pass out and get running. In the 2nd, Cassell got hot, was hitting everything, and we couldn't run because we had to inbound the ball, etc. So we'll need to see improved defense to really spark the offense.

I guess that's it for now. I'll think of more. Can't wait for the game tomorrow. At least we know Melo will be well rested.

At some point a team is going to forfeit a game this season that Joey Crawford officiates. He's going to eject an entire team, write it down.

Totally beat me to it. Joey Crawford will in fact go nuts.

But it is a great rule. It's like when these guys sign their rookie contract and get $20 mil from Nike, they never commit fouls. I know that might sound odd from a guy like me who loves the players, buys the sneakers and jerseys and everything, but this will be great for the game. You committed a foul, get ready for the next play, move on.

But it is a great rule. It's like when these guys sign their rookie contract and get $20 mil from Nike, they never commit fouls. I know that might sound odd from a guy like me who loves the players, buys the sneakers and jerseys and everything, but this will be great for the game. You committed a foul, get ready for the next play, move on.

Had they put this in 20 years ago, I probably wouldn't hate Stockton and Malone near as much. **** Jeff Hornecek, though.

Lame man refs enforcing the new rule at their own discretion. Cassell was whining to the ref forever after that turnover late in the game and doesn't get a technical.

I love the rule and wasn't pissed at all when Melo got tossed; he definitely deserved it.

But It REALLY pissed me off when Cassell was jawing at that ref after he himself made a stupid careless play with obviously no foul; and I usually don't get pissed at refs calls. By interpretation of the rule, he should have been T-ed up regardless of the time left in the game. He obviously had some sort of raport with the ref that I guess made it okay.

If they're going to do this thing they have to call it both ways, not just against the road team like so many other calls by NBA officials.

Hopefully JR can improve his shot selection when Melo is in there full time, and he can hit around 40% behind the arch. If he can do that our team improves dramatically. Nene actually played a good game and Martin looked decent enough.

Andre freaking miller sucks. 0-11. Just awful.

That was a stupid move by Melo. You can't do that sort of crap anymore.

First off, let me claim that Melo under the new rules deserved to be kicked out. Not sure what he did for the first technical, but he got two, so he's gone. One thing that needs to be pointed out is that Melo's ritual is to throw his headband like that when he's leaving the court. He obviously needs to stop that, but whatever, it's done. All of that said, HOW THE @#%$ DID SAM CASSELL NOT GET T'D UP FOR b****ING TO THE REFS FOR OVER 20 SECONDS AT THE END OF THE GAME?!? Good lord! If any of the Nugs would have done that, Javie would have had them executed. Why was there not a foul on Tim Thomas when he "set a pick" on Andre Miller that knocked Dre a good 5 feet back? I realize there are going to be games that go the Nugs way with officiating, but these new reffing rules are going to take some getting used to. A little consistency would be nice.

I'm not sure how JR Smith is solving our SG problems AZ. He had a decent statline, but he couldn't make the three. Then again, NO ONE could. 4-for-23? Ugh. Not pretty. JR could come around, and is a phenominal talent, but we need him to make the three ball. I wouldn't be surprised to see Diawara starting by January. I think his offensive game is going to come around, and it's obvious Karl likes his D & toughness.

Camby carried the team. He's one of the more underrated players in the league. I believe he finished with 14 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks and a steal. Unbelievable. Nene's toughness down low was really missed last year, and having him back helps. Even K-Mart looked solid (although he needs to stop shooting the long jumper).

I thought we'd go 1-1 in our first two games, but this isn't how I thought we'd do it. LA played a tough game two nights ago, we should have run them out of the gym. Now we have to see how the Nugs handle back-to-back's.

First off, let me claim that Melo under the new rules deserved to be kicked out. Not sure what he did for the first technical, but he got two, so he's gone. One thing that needs to be pointed out is that Melo's ritual is to throw his headband like that when he's leaving the court. He obviously needs to stop that, but whatever, it's done. All of that said, HOW THE @#%$ DID SAM CASSELL NOT GET T'D UP FOR b****ING TO THE REFS FOR OVER 20 SECONDS AT THE END OF THE GAME?!? Good lord! If any of the Nugs would have done that, Javie would have had them executed. Why was there not a foul on Tim Thomas when he "set a pick" on Andre Miller that knocked Dre a good 5 feet back? I realize there are going to be games that go the Nugs way with officiating, but these new reffing rules are going to take some getting used to. A little consistency would be nice.

That's exactly the problem I have with it. I like the crackdown on this stuff, what I don't like is that it's subjective and being left in up to the most inconsistant referees in all of professional sports. Carmelo got ejected, that's fine, the rules are the rules. But I'm still wondering why Sam Cassell gets to have a tantrum, complete with arm waving and foot stomping, right in the referee's face and he doesn't so much as get a technical for it.

I'm waiting for a game in which the unholy trinity (Crawford, Palmer, Javie) are all together. It'll be like Billy Crystal from Forget Paris. They'll throw everyone out including the guy who puts the cheese on the nachos.

There's been rumors of us sending JR and something else to the clippers for him.

I guess it's a matter of matching contracts....JR's is not even close to Magette's. At this point I really would be against trading a big unless it's Reggie Evans. I'd do Evans and JR for Maggete trade in a heart beat.